Patricia Jordan joined the Vidant nursing leadership team 5 years ago in a brand new nursing leadership position. In this new role, she would establish a critical care division and establish clear standards of performance across adult critical care units. Since Patricia joined VMC, she has always said “yes” when faced with opportunities to grow her team and to develop her leadership ability. She currently has leadership responsibility for 5 adult critical care units, totaling 120 beds, the Trauma Program, the VAD program, and all cardiac services including the ECHI OR, Cath Lab, and EP labs, and the OP areas. Patricia welcomed the Respiratory Therapy department to the cardiac and critical care division and has developed a high-performing team. I have watched the leaders across her areas grow and develop as individual leaders and as a team of leaders.

Patricia invested in and developed the VAD program from the ground up, and led that team to Joint Commission certification. It was a proud moment to hear the accreditation surveyor talk about the strengths of our program and its outcomes for patients.

Under Patricia’s leadership, she redefined the Critical Care Matrix group, and uses them to set goals for ICU care for adult patients in our organization. This work has translated into interprofessional work that assures we have meaningful dialogue about cutting-edge therapy. She has a positive working relationship with the physician leaders and that relationship enables us to be early adopters in evidence-based practice in the care of the critically ill patient.

She has cultivated leaders to be their best and has grown managers from our clinical staff, with 100% of the managers in our ICUs being team members who were promoted from within the nursing ranks of Vidant.

Under Patricia’s leadership, we opened the Neuroscience ICU with 6 beds and expanded it to 24 beds in less than 12 months. She encouraged and supported, the manager of the NSICU, in the development work for NSICU and together they created a team to support a state-of-the-art NSICU unit. Patricia has worked with physician, nursing, and respiratory therapy leadership to assure we have state-of-the-art protocols in place to support the best possible outcomes for patients experiencing neurological disruption in their life. The outcomes from our programs have positioned Vidant to be recognized year over year with Silver and Gold Get with the Guidelines Awards.

As 2020 arrived, we once again called on Patricia to take on more. She accepted responsibility for the Heart Institute programs in addition to her current scope of responsibility. Just as she was settling into this new body of work, we had to pivot and prepare for Covid 19. She worked with physicians, the nursing team, and respiratory to develop a systematic approach to the care of the Covid 19 patient population. Under her leadership, the MICU was transformed into a Covid 19 ICU, and all of the MICU team were trained to become experts in the care of these very sick patients. Her support of the clinical team encouraged them to be their best and to produce exceptional outcomes for these patients. She continues to support the team with physical and emotional support as they navigate this global pandemic.

I am so proud of her leadership during this unprecedented time in our organization. I know from experience that Patricia will work hard to make sure no patient that needs care at Vidant is unable to find that care here. I am grateful she said “Yes” when we asked her to join our team. Patricia is a fine example of what a DAISY Nurse Leader looks like. She sets the bar high, helps people jump over the bar, and celebrates them when they successfully get the results we know our patients deserve. Patty- Thank you for being an amazing Vidant Nurse Leader.